The sidewall members of a bucket, especially an excavator bucket, wear excessively due to continuous scrubbing contact with the ground during digging operations. Some use special side cutters connected to the sidewall to help overcome this problem. Even though these special cutters help, they add additional costs in the form of materials and manufacturing operations. Others have used various forms of teeth secured to the front corner of the bucket. Even though these help protect the sidewall and aid in the ability of the bucket to work in hard ground, they also hamper penetration due to their design. One form of these has two ground engaging points that requires moving the tooth from one corner to the other to obtain the best total wear life. This form of tooth requires down time for changing the tooth from one corner to the other and inhibits penetration due to the extra point that has to penetrate the ground. Another form of tooth is made to fit only on one corner of the bucket. Consequently, it is necessary to manufacture and stock two different styles for repair or replacement.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.